PLYMOUTH, MI – Karl’s Cabin, 6005 Gotfredson Road in Plymouth, is owned by the Greek-American Poulos family and serves up “homey” favorites, including BBQ ribs, maple-glazed salmon, and even Greek saganaki, in the “cozy, log cabin-style restaurant,” Click on Detroit reported on January 28.

“Karl Poulos and his wife, Sophia, are both Greek immigrants,” Click on Detroit reported, adding that “Karl worked in restaurants all his life, working his way up from the busser to an owner.”

“One day he heard about a location in Plymouth that was for sale,” Click on Detroit reported, noting that “the restaurant had been closed for the last four years and was out in the middle of nowhere.”

“When my husband decided to buy the place, I was crying,” Sophia told Click on Detroit. “I said: ‘Where are you taking me and the boys? Where are we going? Where are the customers [going to] come from?’”

Poulos “had fallen in love with the place, and he made it his own,” Click on Detroit reported, adding that “he said one day the restaurant would be his wife’s retirement and he was right.”

They bought the restaurant in 1982, and according to the restaurant’s website, “with hard-working Karl creating delicious meals in the kitchen and charming Sophia greeting everyone at the front door, it soon became the recipe for success. And ever since, Karl’s has become known as ‘a perfect place for friends and family to meet.’”

The Poulos’ sons, Peter and Louis, took over the restaurant in 1997, continuing its success.

The colorful history of the location is also recounted on the Karl’s Cabin website: In 1945, farmer Alex Rusceak and his wife, Katie, set out to fulfill their dream. Amidst the surrounding farmland and dirt roads they built a hidden treasure – Rusceak’s Rustic Tavern. It catered to the local farmers on horseback, curious travelers and local town-folk heading west on scenic North Territorial Road. But soon after its completion, Alex passed away; leaving Katie to run the roadhouse.

The tavern became a popular stop for traveling musicians looking to make it big on the country circuit – once playing host to a young singer named Johnny Cash. Throughout the years, though, the tavern earned somewhat of a hard-nosed reputation. It had become home to rowdy patrons who would drink and dance into the night, and arguments were routinely settled by bar-clearing brawls. Much like the saloon owners of the Old West, Katie Rusceak resorted to keeping a shotgun behind the bar to enforce the peace; all the while faithfully serving up cold beer and good times until her retirement – finally selling the tavern in the late 1960’s.

The roadhouse then came to be known as Hefner’s Hideaway. It served up a raucous brand of rock and roll, billiards and fisticuffs. Notorious for its after-hours operations, illegal gambling and disorderly clientele, community leaders along with the police stepped in to shut it down. Soon after re-opening as The Stockyard, an upscale dining establishment, the restaurant finally shut its doors and remained closed for years, until Karl Poulos found the location for sale in 1982.

The BBQ ribs “are smoked in-house,” Click on Detroit reported of the favorite menu items, noting that the “flakey mozzarella sticks [are] made with puff pastry.”

Popular comfort foods are also on the menu as well as lighter salads, fresh feta, and fish dishes. “All of their portions are very large and filling,” Click on Detroit reported.

Karl’s Cabin is open seven days a week, Monday-Saturday 11 AM-10 PM, and Sunday Noon-9 PM. The restaurant also has a banquet room for private events and parties.

More information is available online: https://www.karlscabin.com/.